Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: I Still Want to Create (2)
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Chirp, chirp—
The chirping of birds tickled Hyun-soo's ears.
Hyun-soo, who had kept his eyes closed against the brightness, slowly opened them.
And before him unfolded a world completely different from the one he knew.
NPCs clad in armor that looked straight out of the Middle Ages walked the streets.
He also saw other players in shabby clothes who looked like they had just started the game.
Hyun-soo looked down at his own hands.
Just as in the character creation screen, his hands didn't tremble in the slightest.
Squeeze—
He clenched and unclenched his fist several times.
Hyun-soo had always been subconsciously careful when using his right hand.
Worried it might get hurt more, or that its condition would worsen.
But here, he could put his full strength into it without issue.
A small smile on his face, Hyun-soo soon spotted a wooden dummy training ground in the distance.
‘So that's the place where you get the 50 million won capsule if you succeed, huh?’
Hyun-soo didn't have the money to buy a capsule.
Therefore, to make money from this game, he absolutely had to succeed in breaking that wooden dummy.
“Hey, watch this. I’m gonna get that capsule, for sure.”
“Oh, is that the place with the notorious wooden dummy that 2.5 billion people have failed to break?”
Others who, like Hyun-soo, were just starting the game also showed interest in the wooden dummy.
‘Pureum Inc. is really good at marketing…’
Hyun-soo was impressed.
In a way, it was designed to capture the players' interest right from the start—a truly brilliant idea.
Hyun-soo followed them.
‘First, I should check out the wooden dummy before I try to craft a weapon.’
Hyun-soo noticed the instructors standing ahead.
The instructors watched the players striking the wooden dummies with bored expressions.
One of the instructors saw Hyun-soo and approached him.
“Pick any wooden sword from this selection and strike the wooden dummy 50 times.”
Ding!
[Quest: Strike the Wooden Dummy 50 Times]
Rank: Tutorial
Requirement: New Player.
Reward: 10 Silver.
Failure Penalty: Cannot proceed to the next step.
Description: Learn the very basics.
“Can I just pick any of them?”
The instructor simply nodded.
Hyun-soo looked at the long row of wooden swords.
There seemed to be about 500 of them.
It was a testament to how many players came and went each day.
Hyun-soo reached for a random wooden sword, then paused.
‘Hmm…?’
Hyun-soo wore a puzzled expression.
The texture, the feeling that came to him the moment he touched the wooden sword.
In the past, Hyun-soo had made thousands of wooden swords with his father just to earn some pocket money.
That's how difficult it had been to make a living.
Because of that, he was very familiar with the materials used for wooden swords.
‘Wait a minute…’
Hyun-soo looked perplexed.
The thought crossed his mind, ‘Why would they lay out so many wooden swords?’
Five hundred of them, at that.
In a game, there's no need for such a cumbersome setup.
The reason he thought this was because of the feel of the wooden swords.
His eyes swept over the wooden swords.
They were all clearly the same color. The only difference was their appearance.
Some were shiny, while others looked rough, with splinters of bark sticking out from having been swung by many people.
After touching one wooden sword, Hyun-soo touched another one next to it.
‘It's different…’
They looked the same on the outside, but the many wooden swords here were all made of different materials.
About 90% were made of birch.
The rest were made from jujube, oak, zelkova, and the like.
Swords made of birch are hard.
The others aren't bad either.
But if there was a best option, wouldn't it be right to choose it?
‘Normally, I could tell them apart by color…’
It seems they deliberately concealed the colors.
Hyun-soo's hand picked up and put down one wooden sword after another.
“Hey, just grab any old one and start hitting.”
“It's better to pick a good one, isn't it?”
The instructor gave him a gruff look but soon walked over to another player.
Hyun-soo continued to run his hand over the wooden swords.
And then, finally.
‘This is it…!’
Hyun-soo smiled faintly.
It was a wooden sword that looked worn, with the wood splitting in places and stained from use.
‘No wonder people don't pick this one.’
But the reality was different.
‘This is made of ebony.’
Ebony.
Among the various types of wood, ebony is the hardest and most efficient for making wooden swords.
In other words, among these wooden swords, the ebony one was the best.
“I'll go with this one.”
He chose the wooden sword.
Just then.
Ding!
[Hidden Piece. The Discerner of the Genuine.]
[You have acquired 3 Dexterity.]
‘Hm?’
Hyun-soo tilted his head. A hidden piece.
A secret hidden in the game, and the reward for uncovering it.
It was a special reward triggered by extremely low probability or a player's specific actions.
For a moment, Hyun-soo didn't understand why this was a hidden piece.
‘Someone would surely pick it by luck, wouldn't they?’
Then it dawned on him.
‘Ah, I personally touched and appraised dozens of wooden swords.’
The notification clearly said ‘discerned’.
This meant the condition was likely not just choosing it, but selecting it after physically touching and examining multiple wooden swords.
Moreover, discerning the material of a wooden sword by touch alone was nearly impossible for an ordinary person.
And then, something else surprising happened.
Shhhhhh—
[The Wooden Sword Made of Ebony begins to glow.]
The wooden sword, which had the color of ordinary wood, took on the black hue characteristic of ebony.
“Hey, look at that player's wooden sword.”
“What is it?”
“It's a hidden piece! The ebony hidden piece that was mentioned in the community forums. But I heard you can't get it even if you know about it.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because even if they know, ordinary people can't discern it.”
“Ooh… what a talent…”
The crowd showed a brief interest in Hyun-soo.
But when an instructor approached, the players who were about to flock over scattered as if fleeing.
“Congratulations. You've obtained a fine wooden sword. Before you begin striking the dummy, I'll explain the stats.”
There are five basic stats.
Strength, Stamina, Agility, Intelligence, and Wisdom.
“You'll learn about the special stats as you go. As for the status window or quest window…”
He explained that you just had to mutter the command.
“Status Window.”
(Hyun-soo)
Level: 1
Class: None
Strength: 5 Agility: 5 Stamina: Wisdom: 5 Intelligence: 5 Dexterity: 3
“What is the Dexterity stat used for?”
“The Dexterity stat helps non-combat classes craft, produce, cook, and so on, more easily and with better results. It also has a very minor effect on things like attack power…”
“Oh…”
It was an essential stat for Hyun-soo.
Next, Hyun-soo checked the stats of the ebony wooden sword.
(Wooden Sword Made of Ebony)
Grade: Common
Durability: 500/500
Attack Power: 11
Special Abilities:
· Strength +1
Description: An ebony wooden sword with 4 more attack power than a regular wooden sword, and it grants Strength +1.
‘Heh…’
Hyun-soo was impressed.
It has 4 more attack power than a normal wooden sword and increases Strength.
This meant he was getting a better start right from the beginning.
And finally, Hyun-soo stood before the wooden dummy.
‘Break it in 10 hits, and the 50 million won is mine…!’
He immediately began to strike it with all his might.
Thwack
Thud
Thwack, thwack, thwack—
But after striking it a total of ten times, Hyun-soo's expression twisted.
‘How am I supposed to break this…?’
[Wooden Dummy's Durability 811/1,000]
[You have failed to break the wooden dummy.]
[You can try again in 30 minutes.]
Hyun-soo couldn't hide his shock. He had struck it ten times but hadn't even managed to deplete half of its durability.
And that was even with the ebony wooden sword.
‘No wonder 2.5 billion people failed…’
But for Hyun-soo, it was a challenge worth taking.
For now, he completed the remaining 40 strikes.
[Quest: Strike the Wooden Dummy 50 Times complete.]
[You have acquired 10 Silver.]
Hyun-soo left the area.
After Ji-hoon had left yesterday, Hyun-soo had researched the Ares beginner zone.
First, there were things he needed to craft a sword.
‘Materials and a smithy.’
Without these two, even the most skilled blacksmith couldn't craft anything.
Fortunately, while you couldn't change classes in this beginner zone, there was a smithy.
There was also a quest available at the smithy: to collect 50 rabbit pelts.
But he knew it was a quest that people rarely did.
The reason, he'd heard, was that the reward from the smithy was too meager.
Of course, he wasn't going there for the 'collect 50 rabbit pelts' quest.
To use a smithy, you needed the owner's permission.
He headed there for that purpose.
***
Clang, clang, claaang—!
Ren, the blacksmith of the beginner zone, was hammering a piece of red-hot iron with all his might.
He stopped hammering, his face hardening.
“Damn it, another failure…”
He hadn't been on good terms with the beginner zone instructors lately.
The instructors often visited the smithy to get their blades sharpened and complained about the high price.
These repeated complaints eventually escalated into an argument.
‘The prices at a smithy are determined by the blacksmith's skill. Does it make sense for a novice blacksmith like you to charge this much?’
That had wounded Ren's pride.
‘I can make a pretty good sword, too. I'm just in a slump these days!’
‘Does a slump last a lifetime? Fine, if you can craft a sword better than the one I have now, I'll acknowledge you. And apologize for what I said.’
‘Apologize? No, if I make that sword, I'm raising the sharpening fee by 30%!’
‘…Do as you wish.’
Ren's pride had been deeply scarred.
But even after making dozens of swords, he hadn't produced one superior to the instructor's.
He had come close, but as the man said, it was a difficult task for a mere ‘novice blacksmith’.
He continued hammering, then tossed the heated metal aside and took out another piece.
“Why isn't it working?”
The problem was the hardness. He needed better hardness to make a sword that wouldn't break easily and had the high attack power people desired.
But no matter how much he hammered the heated iron, such a sword never emerged.
Claaaaang—!
Claaaaang—!
Clang—!
There was only one smithy here.
Naturally, Ren had a dream.
To reach a higher level of skill than he had now, to surpass his own masterpiece.
No, he didn't even have what you could call a masterpiece.
He had never once crafted a rare artifact in his life.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Claaaaang—!
Cursing his own meager skills, he gritted his teeth.
The only smithy in this beginner zone.
Like any person, he wanted to show those instructors what he was made of.
“Please, just this once…!”
Claaang—!
But the result was, as usual, mediocre, and he kept hammering away.
Finally, just as he was gritting his teeth, his arms about to give out,
“That's not how you do it…”
An unfamiliar voice reached him.
Ren turned his head and saw a man.
Ren was not in a good mood.
‘Not how you do it?’
He was clearly an outsider.
“Ah, my apologies. I didn't mean to interrupt.”
The outsider quickly bowed his head a full ninety degrees in a polite greeting.
Regardless of the man's politeness, Ren was dumbfounded.
‘A mere outsider…?’
Was he giving him advice on his smithing?
Many outsiders had passed by the smithy before.
But those outsiders had always watched his smithing with admiration.
‘Wow, that's a blacksmith…!’
‘Whoa, that's cool!’
Why did they say such things?
Because they knew nothing about smithing.
So who was this man before him to dare say such a thing?
Striding forward, Ren felt a surge of irritation.
“Then how is it done? Why don't you give it a try?”
With an angry expression, he offered the hammer he was holding.
***
Having arrived at the smithy, Hyun-soo looked at the hammer Ren offered and realized he'd made a mistake.
Should I have waited until he was finished…?
But hearing the blacksmith's mutterings, he had realized the man's desire to craft something better.
Why did he offer advice? Because it was what the man needed to make a better sword.
‘The crafting of this sword was wrong from the very beginning.’
With a small sigh, Hyun-soo took the hammer.
‘If something's wrong, it needs to be set right.’
He walked into the smithy.
The hammer, held in his hand for the first time in three years, made his blood run hot.